Will you try the new "Death & Dying" rules now?

[MerricB]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20080201a&authentic=true

Try It Now!
If you want to try out a version of this system in your current game, try the following house rule. It’s not quite the 4th Edition system, but it should give you an idea of how it’ll feel.

1) At 0 hp or less, you fall unconscious and are dying.
Any damage dealt to a dying character is applied normally, and might kill him if it reduces his hit points far enough (see #2).

2) Characters die when their negative hit point total reaches -10 or one-quarter of their full normal hit points, whichever is a larger value.
This is less than a 4th Edition character would have, but each monster attack is dealing a smaller fraction of the character’s total hit points, so it should be reasonable. If it feels too small, increase it to one-third full normal hit points and try again.

3) If you’re dying at the end of your turn, roll 1d20.
Lower than 10: You get worse. If you get this result three times before you are healed or stabilized (as per the Heal skill), you die.
10-19: No change.
20: You get better! You wake up with hit points equal to one-quarter your full normal hit points.

4) If a character with negative hit points receives healing, he returns to 0 hp before any healing is applied.
In other words, he’ll wake up again with hit points equal to the healing provided by the effect—a cure light wounds spell for 7 hp will bring any dying character back to 7 hp, no matter what his negative hit point total had reached.)

5) A dying character who’s been stabilized (via the Heal skill) doesn’t roll a d20 at the end of his turn unless he takes more damage.

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So, are you going to use these house rules now?

 

[Wormwood]

I already emailed my two D&D groups about it. I'm confident both will give the new rules a try.

It definitely couldn't hurt.

 

[Wolfspider]

So it is better for a PC to wake up on his own (generally) that receive a healing spell?

Hmmm....

 

[Peter LaCara]

If I were playing D&D right now, I'd use 'em in a heartbeat.

I'm debating whether to import them to my Star Wars game or not. It's a cool mechanic, but I'm not sure it's in genre for Star Wars.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

If I was playing right now, I definitely would.

 

[Beckett]

Provided my game isn't cancelled this Sunday, I will be using them. And, knowing there is a foe coming up who uses a large scythe, this might improve the survival chance for the PCs.

 

[JohnSnow]

If I play any games between now and when Fourth Edition comes out, I'll definitely use this rule.

And Saga Edition's Second Wind rules too. And maybe the Condition Track.

 

[Cabled]

So it is better for a PC to wake up on his own (generally) that receive a healing spell?

Hmmm....

Well, think of it this way...there's a 5% chance that you weren't hurt as badly as it seemed, just knocked out by the blow. Given the nature of hit points (often debated, but certainly moving more towards the camp of "more than just physical damage" in 4e), this doesn't sound unreasonable. Considering we don't really know anything about the power or availability of healing in 4e as it compares to 3e, it's hard to say if it's better to wake up on your own or not. It looks like hit points get something of a boost in 4e, but so might damage, and healing.

 

[Dragonbait]

I'll suggest it to the GMs of my D&D games.

My only concern is remembering this kind of stuff:
Lower than 10: You get worse. If you get this result three times before you are healed or stabilized (as per the Heal skill), you die.
10-19: No change.
20: You get better! You wake up with hit points equal to one-quarter your full normal hit points.

I hope the system is not littered with things like this.

 

[Nymrohd]

We are going to give them a try though we use a house rule anyway (when you run an aquatic campaign you soon have more house rules than normal rules )